


One Eyed Falcon

by orphan_account



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Angst with a Happy Ending, Developing Relationship, F/M, Gen, Prince Finn, Rescue, Sharing a Bed, Space Pirates, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-19 00:20:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11885970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When Rey finally left Jakku, the last thing she expected or wanted, was for the ship she was on to be boarded by pirates.





	One Eyed Falcon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Confection](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Confection/gifts).



> This ended up angstier than I expected... hopefully it still feels like a good conclusion.

Rey was cramped in the narrow bunk bed, trying to fall asleep, when she felt the ship shudder.

She put her hand against the wall. That was… something. When she got on this ship she knew it was garbage, but she'd thought it had a few more years in it. Would it fall apart in space, and send her and hundreds of others to a cold, anonymous death?

Rey didn't want to die. Not when she finally left Jakku.

The woman sleeping on the bunk below her gave a loud snore. Rey sat up, careful not to bump her head against the ceiling, and reached into her pack. She kept it with her at all times, and slept with it tucked between her and the wall. Little that she had, she could not afford to be robbed. Yesterday she heard a man in the cafeteria complain about missing his watch. There probably was a thief among the passengers. 

She took a flashlight out of her pack and turned it on. The 'One Eyed Falcon' hadn't been originally a passenger ship, and when it had been converted the engineers filled it with small cabins that looked rather like cells. Rey grimaced at the steel walls. She liked ships, in general, but not this one. She missed the wind blowing on her face.

She had a feeling, also, that she wouldn't feel so boxed in if it were her piloting the ship. 

She heard a distant sound. Rey bit her lip and listened intently. Was that the engine giving in? Someone yelling?

Rey slid down the bunk ladder and reached the door. She eased it open.

Distantly she could make out the sound of shouting. Blasters. Rey closed the door shakily. That was fighting, no doubt about it. Now the shudder from earlier made sense. They'd been boarded by pirates.

Even on Jakku, the stories of Snoke's pirate armada were told. People spoke about how, after Snoke's attempt to rebel against the Republic and his defeat in the battle of Takodana, he marshalled the remainder of his forces and escaped. Now his pirate fleet terrorized Republic and civilian vessels alike.

Sometimes the pirates would take a ship hostage, and release the passengers once a ransom was paid. Other times…

Rey's eyes darted around the cabin, searching for a weapon. She left her staff on Jakku.

What else could she use? Rey scrambled up the ladder. At the head of her bunk, the bar was loose. She fiddled with it, testing the loose screw, then yanked it free.

Underneath, the woman rolled onto her side. How can she keep on sleeping, with the noise I just made? Rey thought. If she herself had been so oblivious to danger, she would have died years ago.

She weighed the bar in her hand. It was slender, but made of iron. 

What am I doing? Rey thought suddenly. I can't fight pirates who have blasters with this, unless I want to be shot. She should have been looking for a place to hide.

It was too late. The sounds were growing closer: doors slamming, shouting. Rey hastily shoved the metal bar up her left sleeve where it pressed against her skin. Her heart beat loudly in her ears.

The door slammed open hard and a pair of pirates entered, dressed in white armor. They waved their blasters. "Up! Up! Out of bed, you old hag!" one of them shouted, and yanked the woman beneath Rey. 

The woman stumbled.

"You, get down," the other ordered Rey.

She hesitated, then did as he ordered. She allowed herself to be pushed into the corridor full of frightened passengers and get dragged with the crowd towards the cafeteria.

Rey's jaw was clenched. She was aching to pull out the bar and hit those pirates. A child was crying. Not now, not yet.

The pirates pushed them all into the cafeteria and made them sit on the floor. Along the side pirates stood, their white armor and helmets making them appear like copies of each other. In the front, a pirate wore a different type of armor, a gleaming metallic one. The pirate captain?

Once the passengers were all on the floor, huddled and cringing at the sight of the blaster carrying pirates, the pirate captain gave an order to a few of her subordinates. They immediately went to a man in the front and ordered him to the captain. She questioned him, and then the man dug frantically in his pockets and produced something. The pirate captain examined it.

Then the man was led off and another was prodded forward.

Rey's blood felt like it turned to ice in her veins. They were examining people's identifications, and she had none. She had bribed her way off of Jakku, and had planned on obtaining some identification papers on Corellia. She glanced around the room. All corners of the room were watched. There was no escape.

In front, the old, grey haired woman who had shared a cabin with Rey for two weeks approached the pirate captain. Dread twisted in Rey's stomach. The captain gestured sharply. The woman showed her empty hands. Though the people crowded around Rey were silent, the two in front were far enough she couldn't hear what they were saying.

Then the captain raised her blaser and shot the woman, directly in the chest. A few people cried out in shock

No! Rey thought. Her body was frozen in its place, numb with shock. She was just an old woman. They killed her just because she didn't have papers.

And soon they'll kill me as well.

Her breath caught in her chest and her eyes darted around again, like a trapped animal looking for a nonexistent escape. Rey's hand tightened around the bar tucked up her sleeve. It felt cold in her sweaty palm. Then her eyes met someone's.

It was a young man, around her own age, dressed in a red and brown leather jacket, with serious eyes. They gazed at each other for a long moment.

'Come here,' the man mouthed. 

Rey was still frozen. She glanced ahead and saw a pirate drag the old woman's corpse aside. When she looked for the man, he was no longer to her left. Instead, he was crawling towards her, squeezing between people somehow without attracting the pirates' attention.

What was he doing?

The man reached Rey's side. "Hey, what's your name?" he murmured in her ear.

"Rey, and you?"

"Finn," the man said softly. He licked his lips. "Rey, can you be my wife?"

"What?" Rey hissed.

Finn reached into his jacket and pulled out a pair of ID cards, with the names Bail Windu and Jessika Windu. Once Rey took a look at them, he slipped them back inside. "Can you be my wife?" he repeated.

Rey nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay," Finn said, and took her hand. Rey wanted to pull away, but thought better of it. Why is he doing me this favor? She thought. 

"How did you know I don't have papers?" she muttered.

Finn's hand tightened slightly. "I saw you looking around, and took a guess," he said. Rey snuck a glance at him. He was gazing ahead, at the front of the room, and his fingers trembled slightly. Despite Finn's calm voice and determined face, he was scared.

She squeezed his hand.

The wait was agonizing. Rey kept expecting the pirate captain to murder anther one of the passengers. The others moved forward in ones and twos, and were sent off once they were done. Finally, it was their turn.

Rey walked forward together with Finn.

"Hand your ID cards," the captain said, her voice cold and hard.

Beside her Finn shuddered. Yet his hand was steady when he handed it over, his face smooth. 

The captain examined it. "What were you doing on Jakku?" she demanded.

"We went to visit my wife's sister," Finn said. Rey could feel her legs trembling. She wanted to run.

"What's your sister's name?" the captain asked.

For one horrible moment, Rey's mind was blank. "Rey," she blurted. 

"Go ahead."

Rey and Finn were led to the other room, where the passengers who had been inspected sat. Finn sank onto the floor and Rey settled beside him. Her heartbeat was slowing.

"Thank you," Finn whispered.

Why was he thanking her? It was he who had done her a favor. But, Rey thought, why did he have an extra ID in the first place?

Rey turned slightly so that she was facing Finn. At first glance, he didn't appear very different from the other passengers dressed in simple clothes and desperate to stay alive. But he wasn't one of them, she knew he was something more.

"Finn?" Rey asked softly.

"Call me Bail," Finn said.

Right. "Uh, Bail," Rey said. The name felt wrong on her tongue. "What… what were you doing on Jakku?"

"Meeting a friend," Finn said. "You?"

A friend? On Jakku? 

"I lived there," Rey said. Jakku was the home she had never wanted.

"Where are you going?" 

"To – to Corellia," Rey said. She glanced towards the door and saw a pirate drag the old woman's corpse away. As if he was taking out the garbage.

Rey didn't even know the woman's name, but the sight lit a fire in her chest.

"Rey?"

Her muscles tensed. She blinked to banish the wetness in her eyes. She started to stand.

Finn grabbed her shoulders with both hands. "Rey!"

"They killed her, just like that," Rey said. "These pirates they're – they're monsters."

"I know," Finn said. 

She gazed straight into his eyes. If he knew, why was he stopping her? Finn gazed back steadily, eyes somber. Rey slumped. The fear and anger swirled inside her, so mixed up inside she couldn't tell where one ended and the other began. 

Were they going to do nothing? Just cower under the pirate blasters until they got released, or killed?

She looked at Finn again. He was staring at their guards, and as his hand shifted a little she caught sight of a metallic gleam under his left jacket cuff. He was wearing a watch, an expensive one. He… Finn was the thief. That's why he had fake IDs. 

Rey felt herself relax slightly. So, Finn was a thief. As long as he didn't steal from her, they could be each other's cover identity until this was all over.

Once all the passengers had been processed, several pirates remained to watch over them, while the rest went away.

"What do you think they'll do to us?" Rey said nervously.

"I'm not sure," Finn answered. "Do you know any of the others here?"

"Not really, why?"

"We need a pilot," Finn said. 

Rey blinked. "I'm a pilot, I can – wait, why do we need a pilot?"

"I saw them kill both pilots earlier," Finn said quietly. "If we take over the ship we'll need someone to fly it."

Rey glanced around, buy it seemed he hadn't been overheard. "Take over the ship?" she demanded in a whisper. "How?" 

"Alone, if I must," Finn said, solemn.

He isn't kidding around, Rey thought. But surely, he couldn't think he could take over the entire ship by himself? Was Finn some reckless thrill-seeker? Seriously deluded about his own abilities? 

"How?" Rey asked again.

Finn seemed to understand what she was asking. "By ambushing them, one by one," he said. He spoke almost soundlessly. 

"But won't they see you coming?"

Finn took a seep breath. His forehead shown with sweat. "Not if I dress up like one of them." 

-

Hours passed. Rey hugged her knees to her chest. The pirates gave them water, but no food. She thought of what Finn said. He thought the pirates might be planning to kill them all. Is he just guessing? Or does he know more about them?

A baby began to cry. A pirate shouted and the baby's mother hurriedly began to nurse him. At the door, a pirate entered, and spoke to the others. Finn was gone from her side. He had crept across the floor and somehow ended in the corner behind the guards. Eavesdropping.

He might be a thief, Rey thought. But he's also something else.

She found herself wondering about Finn. It was easier than thinking about the pirates, easier than listening to the voice inside her, whispering. You shouldn't have left Jakku. You should have stayed there.

He crawled back to her, his face grim. "They were looking for something, and they couldn’t find it," he told her. "It's not… looking good."

"What are they looking for?" Rey murmured.

Finn looked uncomfortable. "They think the prince of Takodana might be on this ship."

Rey frowned. "That's ridiculous, why would a prince be on this rust bucket?"

Finn shrugged. 

"Do they think a prince will get them a higher ransom?" Rey wondered.

"It's not about that," Finn said. He seemed remarkably well informed. "Snoke's forces have a vendetta against the royal family of Takodana, since their defeat. Supposedly, Kylo Ren and General Hux are having race to see who can capture the prince first."

"So, if the prince isn't here…" Rey said, heart sinking.

"They might just slaughter everyone," Finn finished.

There didn't seem to be a lot of options. They would have to take over the ship. Rey met Finn's eyes, and realized that she was willing to help him. 

She… trusted him.

Finn's plan was risky, but there weren’t many ways to defeat a superior force, while making sure the rest of the passengers didn't get killed during their rescue. 

So, first, a distraction.

Rey stood up.

"You, sit back down," a guard ordered. 

She sank back down, then deliberately tripped into another passenger. The man let out a loud yell, and for a minute all the guards looked towards Rey.

Finn slipped out the door.

Rey murmured an apology to the man, and moved away from him. She counted silently in her head to one hundred. The pirates were no longer looking at her.  
Finn made it look easy, to crawl and squeeze among the people without attracting notice. Rey knew how to sneak and not be seen, but she was more practiced in the desert, not in a room full of people.

Still, she managed to cross the room and reach the pair of guards before Finn returned.

She held the bar and waited.

A pirate dressed in white armor entered and approached the pirates in front. The pirates in front greeted him, not suspecting a thing. Finn raised his blaster and fired in quick succession, neutralizing the two in front. Rey quickly rose and hit the first pirate with the iron bar. He fell, and she snatched his blaster. She turned to fire at the other, and pressed the trigger.

It didn't work. The safety! Rey thought as the other raised his own blaster. She fired again.

It took less than thirty seconds.

-

They took over the rest of the ship in a similar fashion, dressing in pirate armor and ambushing the pirates. They removed their blasters and locked the surviving pirates in a room. Rey took control of the ship and plotted a course to the nearest Republic base, D'Qar.

Finn was still with the others, calming them and organizing the food. With the original captain and crew dead, it seemed no one could be in charge. 

She wanted to see him. He saved her life, and together, both of them saved the others. It was a heady feeling. Rey felt like she was floating on a cloud. Today had turned from one of the worst days in her life, to one of the best.

The door hissed open and Finn entered. "Going okay?"

"This ship is garbage, but I figured out the controls," Rey said. "We can reach D'Qar in four hours."

"That's great," Finn said, and sank into the co-pilot seat beside her. 

"I figured out who you are," Rey said.

"You did?" Finn replied. His voice was casual, deliberately so.

"You’re a spy for the Republic, aren't you?"

Finn was silent, for a long moment. Rey glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "Sort of," Finn said, finally. "Not exactly by choice."

He didn't continue, so Rey turned back to the controls. Finn's arms were folded, and he was gazing ahead, into space.

"I'm looking for my parents," Rey found herself saying, without meaning to. She never told anyone, there was never anyone to tell. But Finn was listening now, and so she found herself talking about Jakku, the lonely years, teaching herself to fly, finally meeting the dying man, Lor San Tekka. 

"… So they might be alive, my parents," she finished. "They might not have known I was on Jakku. I know I can't stay there and wait, I have to go and find them."

"I hope you do," Finn said. 

Silence filled the cabin, and then after a moment Finn began talking, and the story he told brought chill up Rey's spine. Three years ago, he, along with a group of youth from Takodana, had been kidnapped by Snoke's armada. They had been hurt and tortured, in attempt to force them to fight for the pirate navy.

"After a few months, I decided to pretend they broke me," Finn said quietly. "Because I knew that way I would be able to learn valuable intelligence, and I'd have a better chance of escaping."

He told her of memorizing codes, ships, people. Of finally escaping, and making his way back to Takodana. Of how the only thing that sustained him was the knowledge that his parents were waiting for him.

"So, you got back home?" Rey asked.

Finn nodded. "Yes."

He got back home, and then he left again? Rey thought. 

"What are you doing here, then?" She asked.

Finn seemed almost to shrink in his seat. "Some… some of the boys and girls that were taken with me are still with the armada. I have to fight them."

"But…" It seemed to Rey so unfair. Finn had been captured. He suffered. He came back. Surely there were others who could do their share?

Finn took a deep breath. "This mission, I wasn't supposed to encounter pirates. It got messed up. My ship crashed, I don't know what happened to my friend, and I had to get off Jakku quickly…"

The compressor made an odd sound, and for several moments Rey had to concentrate on the engine. "This ship is so weird," she complained when she finished.

Finn glanced around. "Yes, this kind of looks like someone tried to copy the Millennium Falcon."

Rey's heart stopped. "The Millennium Falcon is real?" she demanded breathlessly.

Finn looked at her oddly. "Sure?"

"And Han Solo?"

"He's real too." Finn began to grin. "Why? Do you want to meet him?"

"Of course, I want to meet him, he's legendary!" Rey said.

"Kind of grumpy, though," Finn countered, still smiling.

"His ship made the Kessel run in fourteen parsecs," Rey said. Her heart leaped. Han Solo was real. Finn knew him, and could introduce her.

And she couldn't help but notice that when Finn smiled, he was beautiful.

-

"We're almost at D'Qar," Rey said, stretching. She was determined that her landing would be perfect, a nice ending to her first interstellar flight, and first as pilot. The first of many to come, she promised herself.

"Rey, I have a favor to ask," Finn said.

"What?"

"Can you keep on being my wife?"

"What?" Rey said, startled, and then she remembered. "Yes, sure, but… won't we be safe on D'Qar?" 

"Technically," Finn said. "But…"

"All right, if you want," Rey said, shrugging. 

-

They exited the ship, holding hands. It was strange, the feeling of being tethered to another person, but also reassuring, in a way. I'm not alone, Rey thought.

Bail and Jessika Windu checked into a small hotel, after they bought tickets for Takodana, in a ship that would depart the following morning. Rey went to take a shower. She'd heard in other planets that people could take long baths, and after years of imagining, reality was exquisite. She dressed comfortably, dried her hair, and slipped into the single bed.

The bed was soft, almost too soft. Rey turned this way and that, trying to find a comfortable spot, while Finn showered. 

He exited the bathroom and approached the bed. Then he stopped at the edge.

Rey shifted a little. "The bed is big enough for both of us."

"You don't mind?" Finn said. "The floor looks-"

"The floor looks really hard," Rey said. "We're husband and wife, aren't we?"

"I guess so," Finn said, and smiled a little. He slid in beside her.

"Good night," Finn whispered, and dimmed the lights.

Rey still couldn't sleep. She ought to be exhausted. But inside, she still felt a little tense. She tried to think. "You're not actually a thief, are you?" she said.

"A thief?" Finn said, voice clear. "What made you think so?"

"The watch you have," Rey said. "It looked expensive and I heard one of the passengers… I jumped to conclusions, I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Finn said. He told her how the watch had been a gift from one of his grandfathers, and began speaking of Takodana. He told her of lakes and forests, of green that stretched for miles, of castles and festivals. It sounded amazing.

"Today…" Finn said. "Today I had to wear one of their uniforms. When I escaped, I thought I never would have to do it again."

He trembled. 

"But you saved all those people, we saved all those people," Rey said. She sat up and looked at Finn. "We saved them."

He nodded. When he wasn't smiling he looked so serious. "I guess…" he said, "when I escaped I thought the nightmare was over. It still haunts me. I just wish…" 

Hesitantly, Rey put her head down next to his and took his hand in her own. "Finn?"

"Yes?"

"I'm here. You're not alone."

His hand squeezed hers.

"Rey?" he said, into the darkness.

"Yes?"

"Let's go to sleep."

-

Takodana was just a beautiful as Finn told her. Finn gazed out of the window, hungrily. He was home again and soon, Rey realized with a pang, they would have to part ways. 

She didn't want to leave him.

"Rey?"

"What?" she asked.

Finn took a deep breath. "Takonada has access to a lot of databases, and some of the best private investigation firms. You could – make it a sort of base, while you're looking for your parents."

Did that mean he wanted to see her too? "That sounds like a good idea," Rey said slowly. "But, um, will the authorities here let me stay?"

"I don't think you need to worry about that," Finn said. He was smiling again.

"I don't?" Rey said. They exited the ship together. "Finn…"

"I might have forgotten to mention," Finn began, when a pretty, dark haired woman ran towards them. "Finn!" she shouted.

"Rose!" he greeted, and embraced her. 

"We just got your message this morning," Rose said. "Poe already got back, but he couldn't find you - your parents were worried to death – who's this?"

"Rey, this is my best friend, Rose," Finn said. "Rose, this is Rey. She helped save the people on the ship."

Rose turned to Rey and grasped her hands. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "For helping his highness."

"For helping…" Rey said, voice trailing off. She glanced at Finn. He smiled at her, a little repentant, mostly amused. 

He told me that himself! Rey thought. That the pirates were looking for the prince. And then he hid in plain sight. 

-

On the drive to the palace she asked him, "why didn't you tell me?"

Finn sighed softly. "Snoke's people captured me twice, and they never knew they had me. That's because not a lot of people can identify me. Soon, things will change, but meanwhile…"

He looked determined.

"I want to help," Rey said. "With the fight against Snoke, With everything."

"And I want to help you find your parents," Finn said. "We can do it together."

"Together," Rey said, the promise sweet on her tongue.


End file.
